iNeed Your Help
by lifethatyouhate
Summary: When Sam wants to get rid of someone, she asks for the help of someone she never expected to go to. Seddie!
1. Chapter 1: iWant You To Leave Me Alone

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it

Author's Note: So, I wasn't sure if I was going to write another fan fic, but I just love Seddie so much I had too. :D So, here's iNeed Your Help. You can expect another update soon, because I really like this story so far. D

"Well, monkey granola, we could just write holy note cards all day long!" Ruben protested as Sam walked away from him. She turned towards him, confusion obvious in her eyes. "I can't even understand you kid! Would you stop following me?" she demanded. Ruben merely sighed, stepping closer to her. "You're a bold kid," she said, going to shove him, but he easily moved out of the way. Surprised somebody had actually avoided one of her attacks, Sam merely spun around on her heel, attempting to get to her class, but she could hear the boy's footsteps behind her.

Sighing loudly as she turned back around, she threw her hands up in the air. "I don't know what you want, Ruben! I can't even understand what you're saying!" she swatted him away from her with her history book, but- as usual- he neglected to get hit by her attacks. "I took kung fu on a crowded beach during the sunset, if you know what I mean," he explained, smirking at her as she raised her eyebrows, her expression that of obvious disgust with the boy. "No, I don't know what you mean! You better keep away from me, though, unless you want to get…a purple nurple on the heels of a giant yeti!" she threw her hands in the air again, unsure how to keep the boy away.

He looked offended for a moment, but bounced back easily. "I don't know what you're trying to say, Sam," he shook his head. He took another step towards her, but she merely grabbed Gibby as he went to walk past her. "Sam!" Gibby protested angrily as she dragged him back to her by his shirt collar. "Gibby, would you keep your friend-," she started, but Ruben pulled his friend away. "Ruben trained in a bunch of self defense classes," Gibby explained, and Ruben sighed. "I already told her that!" he said, and Gibby glanced back at Sam, shrugging. "Keep your loony friend away from me, before I shove you through that air vent, Gibby!" Sam gestured towards the floor, and Gibby backed away. "I can't get stuck in that air vent again, Sam!" he screamed as he ran away. Sam chased after him, Ruben close on her heels, as she spun him around.

"Ruben, tell Gibby what it would take for you to leave me alone!" Sam demanded, and Ruben shrugged. "You should've just asked! All you need is me to be a brand new cupcake face to bask in the sunlight with!" Ruben said, and Gibby laughed, high fiving the boy. Sam grabbed the back of Gibby's shirt, shoving him into a locker before she pulled him back. "You have five seconds to tell me what's up with the freak before I drag you back to the air vent- and this time I'll make sure Carly _doesn't_ call for help!" she snapped, and Gibby quickly threw _his_ hands into the air to show he was giving up.

Sam folded her arms as she stared at him. "One…two…" she started, and Gibby cried out quickly, "Stop! I'll tell you! He just wants to go out with you," he said, and Ruben nodded with a smirk. "That date we had was like parachuting through the winds of Saturn!" he said, and Sam rolled her eyes. "Until you ran out screaming- no, wait, it was still like _drowning _in the 'winds of Saturn!'" she snapped, heading away quickly towards Carly and Freddie, who were waiting for her next to her locker.

"Where've you been?" Carly asked with her head tilted to one side. "Ruben won't stop following me, Carls! The boy wants to go out with me _again_!" she said, shaking the girl's shoulders violently. Carly's eyes widened as Freddie grabbed Sam's shoulders, pulling her away from Carly. "Thanks Fredward," Sam said, her eyes narrowed at Carly. "I don't see why you're so mad at me-," Carly started, but Sam interrupted angrily, folding her arms. "You set me up on a date with that freak!" she snapped loudly, and Carly winced. "I didn't think he'd go so…overboard- you can't really blame me for this. Freddie," she said, giving Freddie the look she always did, expecting him to agree with her.

With a small shrug, Freddie said quietly, "Sorry Carly, but I've got to side with Sam. That boy _is_ a freak. Look," he gestured towards where Ruben was standing at his locker, watching. "I can't even understand what he's saying all the time! For all I know, he could be threatening me, or asking me out! I could be accepting, for all I know!" Sam screamed in Carly's face, her violent movements causing her hair to swirl around her face. Freddie put a hand on each girl's shoulder, and for a moment he stared at Sam- until she turned and looked at him with confusion. He dropped his hands off their shoulders quickly, glancing over at Ruben.

"Fighting isn't going to solve anything. We have to…find out how to make sure Ruben stops trying to go out with you, or something," he said, his head tilted to the side as well- in confusion. Sam stared at him for a moment, then looked at Carly, letting loose a loud sigh. "Freddork's right, I guess. Any bright ideas, Carls?" she asked, and Freddie and Carly stared at Sam in amazement. Carly had never seen her best friend this worried- and Freddie wasn't exactly sure why he couldn't take his eyes off of her for those few seconds- but then he ripped his eyes over to Ruben, watching quietly as the boy stared at Sam in a way that made him uneasy.

"Well…get a new boyfriend, and then Ruben will realize that it'll be impossible for you two!" Carly said enthusiastically. "There isn't a loser in this whole school I would consider," Sam rolled her eyes. Carly and Freddie exchanged a glance- Sam's man hating ways had hit a high after she dumped Jonah. He went around the school now spreading rumors about things he and Sam had done- and spreading rumors about things they _hadn't_ done. "Sam, I know Jonah hurt you," Carly said, her voice small, but Freddie interrupted with an annoyance which- for once- wasn't directed at Sam. He watched the boy they were speaking of walking towards them, and he looked away. "Why don't we just hook the loser up to a wedgie bounce again?" he demanded, and Sam looked away. She didn't exactly want to defend herself again about the reason she never wanted to talk to him again- and Jonah's appearance gave her that break- which she wished she didn't have for once.

Freddie stared awkwardly as Jonah approached him, holding out his hand for a shake. "Hey Freddo, haven't talked to you in ages," he laughed, and Freddie glanced over at Sam, who recoiled from them both with a sudden vulnerability in her eyes. When she saw Freddie looking at her, she quickly covered it up, but she stood on the other side of Carly, who merely glared at Jonah. Freddie looked back at the boy, looking down at his hand and back at his face with a stony expression. "What's your problem, Fred?" Jonah demanded, with his expression a mixture of confusion and annoyance as he let his hand fall back to his side. "Oh, hey Sam," he said when he looked over at the blonde, who glared at him. "Get lost, Jonah." She snarled at him.

"Come on Sam, no hard feelings," he rolled his eyes, reaching over to stretch an arm around Sam's shoulder, but Freddie placed his hand on the boy's shoulder, pushing him several feet away. "I don't think we should talk anymore- and I really don't think you should talk to Sam, either," he glared, dropping his hand back to his side as Carly and Sam watched on with surprise. "What's Freddie doing?" Sam leaned over to Carly, asking in a whisper. "I don't know, but I think he's helping you," Carly whispered back, and they exchanged a raised eyebrow. When they looked back, Jonah was rolling his eyes. "What's your problem, Freddie?" he demanded. "You hurt Sam, Jonah. She's my best friend," he said, his voice quiet as he avoided looking at his old friend. "Okay, whatever. Later," he rolled his eyes again as he walked off, passing by Ruben, who watched him with interest.

That was when a smirk lit up Sam's face, and Carly looked at her with confusion. "What are you thinking?" she asked as Freddie walked back over to them, looking at Sam's growing smirk with fear as she stretched her arm up to put around his shoulder. "Hey Freddie…" she drifted off, and Freddie's eyes widened.


	2. Chapter 2: iDon't Want to do This

Disclaimer: I not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

Author's Note: So I really like this chapter. It's just the plan, and it's more of a filler, but I really like it. The next chapter- where Sam's plan gets put into action- will be up really soon, because, as I said- I just love this storyline. xD I can totally see this whole situation playing out. It's all in my head, people. :D

"Okay, so, tell us what your plan is," Carly sighed as she slumped into her bean bag chair. Freddie sat down on his stool as usual, but Sam remained standing up, not heading over to her usual spot in the car seat. Carly and Freddie exchanged a glance, and Sam sighed. "This idea is painful for me, okay?" she said, and Carly mumbled something under her breath. "Well, have some of the punch Spencer made for us, and some of the sandwiches. Food helps you," Carly noted, and Sam smirked over at her in half annoyance, half agreement. She took a sip of the punch, but her stomach was swelling inside of her. She had never expected to go to _Freddie_ for help before.

She set her drink down next to Freddie, and his eyes widened in surprise when she pushed the sandwiches away. "I've never seen you reject food," he said, his voice genuine amazement. She shot him a dark look, mumbling obscenities under her breath. "Well, Fredward, I've never had to do something this terrible before," she said. Knowing the plan included him; Freddie merely glared at her, though a tiny smile played on the corners of his lips as he watched her mull everything over with a look of both confusion and frustration.

"Out with it already!" Carly shouted, and Sam turned to her in shock. "Okay, okay cupcake, chill!" Sam said, turning to Freddie as she gestured for him to step in front of her. He glanced at Carly, and then shrugged, obediently standing in front of her. He cocked his head to one side, his arms folded as he stared at her. She slowly- awkwardly- reached her hand into her back pocket, pulling out her wallet.

"Well, Fredward," she smirked, and Freddie nervously shoved his hands into his pockets. He wasn't _sure_ of what was to happen next, but he could still guess, and he wasn't exactly excited to find out why she was pulling out money, and he didn't want her to tell him anything yet. He wanted to stand there, watching as she tried to put on that 'I don't care' masquerade despite the way she tapped her foot against the floor and pushed her golden locks behind her ear. "I will pay you fifty big ones if you'll…help me out. For a while. As long as it takes to get Ruben away, that is."

Freddie easily recognized what she was trying to do. She wanted to trick him into agreeing to it before he even knew what he was agreeing to. It might've worked, if she hadn't done it to him only a couple days ago- though he had fallen for it every other time. He stepped closer to her, examining the money- she _had_ paid him fake money before- and tilted her head up to his. "What am I supposed to be doing?" he said, making sure he could see her eyes. It was easier to understand what Sam was doing like that.

"I need you to _pretend_- that is the KEY WORD Fredward! _Pretend_. Repeat it for me," she commanded, her eyebrows raised menacingly. Freddie didn't seem like he would oblige for a moment, but the threatening look that appeared in her eyes so suddenly made him do so. "Okay, okay. I am going to pretend," he said, his head cocked to one side.

A smirk lit up Sam's face. "So you'll do it!" she said, and Freddie's eyes widened. _She had tricked him again_. "I didn't agree to do anything!" he snapped at her, holding his hands in the air to show his confusion. Carly's laughter was the only thing that broke the silence, and she quickly tried to stop it when Freddie turned around to look at her.

"So, you're going back on your word?" Sam said, her eyes suddenly hurt. Freddie didn't know how a person could make their expression so depressing all of a sudden- but he was putty in her hands suddenly. He hated seeing Sam upset- he wouldn't admit it to anyone, of course. But he did- he hated the way her eyes would take on that aloof look, and the way the corners of her lips would turn down just slightly.

He blinked several times to fight back the feeling welling up in his stomach. He hated the way he noticed these things- but a small voice in his head seemed to remind him that he definitely didn't notice these things about _Carly_. "Okay, Sam, I will do anything you want me to do. I will do anything for you," he said with a sigh, and Sam gave him a strange expression. Realizing how weird that had sounded, he tried to backtrack, but Sam held a finger up, grazing the edges of his lips to make him shut up.

"You need to pretend to be my boyfriend- I don't know how long. Don't act like I _want_ this- you're just the only boy I can stomach," she mumbled near silently, and Freddie didn't protest, as she expected. Her last sentence was honest, and even he knew it- and he was honestly _flattered_. Sam stared up at him, waiting for some comment, but he didn't say anything. "Just until Ruben gets over this- the kid _freaks me out_, Freddie. _You_ of all people know how hard it is to freak _me_ out!" she said, and a small smile lit up Freddie's face. He would know, of course.

He could see Carly's surprised reflection in his camera lens- she was shocked that he was actually going along with this. "Okay. I'll be your…boyfriend….then. I guess. So, do I have to like…defend your honor against Ruben?" he asked, and then rolled his eyes when both Sam and Carly started laughing out loud.

"If you mean keep him away from me, threaten him when he starts moving in on me about parachuting at Saturn-," Sam broke off when Freddie and Carly stared at her with raised eyebrows, confused. "Just keep him away from me. And keep-," her voice broke off very flatly. Freddie easily realized what she had been trying to say though- _And keep Jonah away from me_. "I did, and I will. I did say I'd do anything for you, didn't I?" he smirked, and a grin lit up Sam's aloof expression.

"Thanks, Fredward. You're a real pal," she held out the money to him, and he hesitated, about to grab it, before he put his hand in his pocket. "Pay me later," he said, and she raised an eyebrow. "Whatever you say, honey bunches," she smirked, and he rolled his eyes. He didn't want her to pay him until he knew how he felt about the whole thing. He might want to demand more money after they were done pretending.

Or he might not want the money at all.


	3. Chapter 3: iGuess This is Okay

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

Author's Note: So, I love this story. xD Basically, I love any Seddie story I can totally play out in my head. This chapter is a bit of a filler with more hints towards Freddie's possible feelings, but next chapter will definitely be more interesting.

When they reached school the next day, the only thing Sam could think about was the plan she had made with Freddie. "I think I made a _big_ mistake, Carls!" she nearly shouted at the dark haired girl in front of her. Carly watched her with wide eyes, shaking her head. "It was a good plan, Sam. And I'm not just saying that because I came up with it," a cocky look took over her face that Sam merely rolled her eyes at.

"Freddie would do anything to help you- he's our best friend. You should be grateful he agreed to this so easily. It was actually a bit suspicious, really," Carly frowned, her head cocked to one side. Sam raised an eyebrow, mimicking the head motion. "What do you mean?" she demanded.

Carly stayed silent, and Freddie appeared from behind Sam suddenly. She turned towards him with wide eyes, nearly bumping into the locker behind her. "Hey, Sam, Carly," he nodded to each in turn, and Carly and Sam each grinned slightly, saying simultaneously, "Hey, Freddie." Freddie turned towards Sam, surprised. "Freddie?" he asked, and she started laughing, folding her arms.

"That is your name, isn't it? Or, I'm sorry, do you prefer Fredward?" she asked, and Carly began to snicker. Freddie turned to look at her, but she couldn't stop laughing, merely covering her mouth instead to try and muffle it. "I'm sorry, that always gets me…Fredward!" she said, and both she and Sam started laughing then as Freddie rolled his eyes, turning with a small yelp at the figure in front of him.

Carly's eyes widened as Sam turned, letting loose a loud, "Ugh!" Ruben stood there with a smile on his face, a boquet of flowers in his hands that he held out towards Sam. She stared at him for a long time, and Carly kicked Freddie from behind, who merely grunted slightly, nervously holding his hand out towards the boy before he just snapped the flowers away from him.

"Are you trying to…hit on my girlfriend?" he asked, staring at the red roses in his hands. Sam glanced down at them, pulling out the card. "And you looked at me like I was such an idiot when I talked about parachuting through the winds of Saturn," she rolled her eyes, holding the card out for Freddie and then Carly to read. Carly stared at Ruben with a raised eyebrow, and Freddie merely shot a desperate look back at Carly and Sam. He had no idea how to handle a stalker like that.

Clearing his throat loudly, Freddie set his arm cautiously around Sam's shoulder. He had two fears about physical contact with Sam: one, he was afraid she was embarrass him by just shoving him away from her, and two, he was afraid she would body slam him into the floor, wall, lockers- anything- and break some major body parts. But, to his surprise- pleasant surprise- she set her arm slowly around his waist, staring up at him with a look that said 'Get on with it!'

"I think I'll be the only one…parachuting into the winds of Saturn with Sam now, Ruben. I'm…sorry, I guess," he said, wincing a bit. "By the way, he's taken lots of self defense classes," Sam added on, and Freddie turned to stare at Ruben with wide, fearful eyes, but the boy merely started to cry, running off.

"I think you'll be able to end this already!" Carly said cheerfully, and Sam quickly dropped her arm from Freddie's waist. Freddie hesitated, but when Sam gave him a strange look he let his arm fall quickly back to his side. "I don't know, the kid's got persistence," Sam shrugged, and Carly smirked slightly. "Freddie, go to your locker," she told him, and he frowned.

Sam and Carly sighed as Freddie said, "You two think you can tell me to go wherever you want whenever you want just because-," but at the annoyed look on both of their faces, he just sighed and walked away to the direction of his locker. A victorious Carly watched after him, a smirk showing on her face as she pushed Sam over to a bench away from earshot of anybody who would attempt to listen into their conversation- and being computer stars, that _did_ happen a lot.

"Freddie was _really_ nice to you just now, Sam," Carly hinted, but Sam didn't seem to get it. "I know- I really owe that boy. I might just up the anty to sixty bucks- too bad for Freddie though, but I ran out of beef jerky," Sam shrugged, folding her arms as she kicked her feet up onto a nearby trash can. Carly turned away from the blonde, rolling her eyes before she looked back at her best friend with a smile.

"But he was…_really_, _really_ nice, wasn't he?" Carly said, nudging Sam repeatedly with her elbow. Sam merely stared at her for a long time, tilting her head slowly to the left as realization dawned on her. "Are you trying to suggest that me and Freddork go _legits_?" Sam asked, and immediately burst into laughter.

Carly sighed, folding her arms. She would be lying if she said she hadn't expected Sam to say something like that. "Sam, I think Freddie could have _genuine_ feelings for you!" she said, and Sam rolled her eyes. "Carly, don't flatter me. Fredward's been in love with you for…how long? What, seven years? Nine years? I wouldn't be surprised if he had been following you around even _before_ that!" Sam snickered, but stopped when she realized Carly wasn't laughing at her joke.

"I'm just saying, you really need to give Freddie a chance. You'd be surprised. I thought I liked that boy, Gerard, a lot, remember?" she asked. Sam remembered that time in Carly's life perfectly- but she was reluctant to say so. She knew that the whole Gerard thing could fit in nicely to Carly's testimony. So, instead of agreeing, she just stayed quiet. But, of course, Carly could easily tell she remembered.

"I used to like _love_ Gerard, and then when I went out with Johnathan- remember, for iCarly?" she asked, and Sam sighed, nodding. "I realized I didn't like Gerard at all- I just liked the _idea_ of him." "Yeah, well, look how long you and Jonathan lasted!" Sam snapped, and Carly rolled her eyes, standing up to greet a black haired boy passing by with an embrace.

The boy smiled at her, returning it. "Jonathan, we've been dating for…two months, now?" She asked, and he nodded. She stuck her tongue out at Sam, who merely narrowed her eyes, and then took Jonathan's hand as she walked down the hallway.

"It's different for Carly, anyways," Sam huffed to herself. "She dates tons of guys. She bounces back and forth from a bunch. I give her and Jonathan three months, tops. Or until Jake Crandall and Stephanie break up again- and I'd bet my life that if Gerard asked her out, she'd dumped that loser in a heartbeat," she rolled her eyes, mumbling quickly to herself. The whole idea of her and Freddie having feelings for each other was just…_awkward_.

"Sam?" a voice asked, and she jumped up quickly. Freddie was staring at her with confused eyes. "Are you talking to yourself?" he asked, a muffled snicker escaping from behind his hand. "Oh, shut up Fredward," Sam snapped at him, holding back the urge to shove him into the wall. He was her 'boyfriend,' after all.

Freddie stepped towards her, a smirk on her face. "That's not an appropriate greeting for me, now, is it?" He was definitely enjoying the safety he had from Sam's attacks, that was for sure. "Oh, just walk me to class," Sam sighed, handing him her backpack. Freddie didn't reject it, as she expected, but took the backpack and set his arm around her shoulder as they passed by Ruben, who's tears were finally starting to dry.

So far, it wasn't _too_ bad.


	4. Chapter 4: iDodged a Bullet

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any other characters on it.

Author's Note: As promised, this chapter is much more interesting than the past few. The next one will be up soon!

"Fredward!" Sam hissed in Freddie's ear where he sat in front of her. Typically he would've ignored her, but word had spread that he was her 'boyfriend' like wildfire- the whole school knew now. He didn't want to look like a jerk for rejecting her, so he turned around, glancing over at Carly who was watching them with confusion out of the corner of his eye.

"I need to copy down your homework," she whispered quickly in his ear, and he blushed slightly at the tickle in it. Everyone grinned at him- taking the blush and the whispering in the ear the wrong way- as Ruben watched him with a glare from the back of the room. "Why don't you ever do your homework?" Freddie mumbled near her ear, being sure to keep his distance. Even if they were 'together' he knew Sam well enough to know too close of contact could cause a body slam right in front of the whole class.

She rolled her eyes, not really needing to answer him. "Okay," he said, passing her his homework quickly. She looked shocked when two notes fell on it as well- and looked at Carly and Freddie, who at each sent a note at the same time, with a strange look on her face.

_Sam: what did you just ask Freddie?_ Carly's note asked. Sam answered it first- Carly _was_ her best friend, after all. Just asked to copy the dweeb's homework, she replied, expertly flicking the note over quickly in case the teacher looked up. It was a stupid cover up though- the teacher hardly ever looked up at the students when she was reading.

**Sam: how long do you think we have to do this?** Freddie's note asked. Sam just rolled her eyes, replying back, Well, Fredward, how long do you think we'll have too? She asked simply, leaning forward to drop it over his shoulder. He turned to look at her with shock, surprised at how close her face was to his. He stared at her for a long time, and then Sam rolled her eyes. "Open the note and write back," she hissed, sitting back so quickly he couldn't even be sure if she had said that.

_Why'd you whisper in his ear then_? Carly's reply said, and Sam looked up to see her friends waggling her eyebrows. Sam looked at Freddie and mocked gagging, rolling her eyes. "Just answer," Carly mumbled, rolling her eyes as well as she looked back down at her homework. Because I don't want the teacher hearing. Sam replied, and Carly rolled her eyes again. She didn't reply then.

Freddie dropped a note onto Sam's desk, and of course the teacher's gaze snapped up. "Fredward Benson!" she screamed, and he leaped up. "I-," he started, but Mrs. Gray merely shook her head, leaping to her feet as she threw her book to the side. "Are you passing notes with Samantha?" she demanded.

Sam slid the note into her back pocket quickly, shoving Freddie back into his chair as she jumped to her feet. "Mrs. Gray, you don't understand!" she protested, and Carly stared up at her. "It was neither of their fault, actually! Sam was just giving Freddie a paper off the floor she thought was his, and he said it wasn't his and gave it back!" she said, desperate to keep her friend out of trouble.

Sam looked at her with confusion. "One more time you get sent to the principal and you get suspended!" Carly hissed. It was Sam's turn to roll her eyes- she actually laughed. "Sit down, Carls," she said, stepping forward to Mrs. Gray.

"Carly Shay, there is no reason to lie for your friends- is that a note on your desk too?" she demanded, and Sam jumped in front of Carly's desk.

"No, Mrs. Gray, let me explain. I passed a note to Carly and Freddie asking them if I could copy off their homework." Partly true, and in everyone else's eyes it was unnecessary. But, it was the only way she knew to get the teacher's attention off of Carly and Freddie.

Mrs. Gray looked shocked- not much by the fact that Sam had tried to copy down someone's homework, but more that Sam had actually admitted it. "Samantha," she said, clutching her chest as if she were about to have a heart attack. Sam just rolled her eyes, glancing back at Carly and Freddie who were staring at her with shock.

_Don't do it!_ Carly mouthed to her, but Freddie was just staring at her with extreme surprise. _Have I ever stuck up for Freddie before_? Sam thought to herself as she studied the boy's expression through hardened eyes for a moment. The whole class was watching the fiasco go down- but of course, Sam wasn't bothered by an audience. She dismissed Carly's pleading and turned back to the teacher.

"Carly was telling me she wouldn't give me her homework, and then Freddie gave me back a note," she said, digging in her pocket. It wasn't the note Freddie had given her, of course- she was reaching in her front pocket. She pulled out the card that Ruben had given her. "See, right here it says he'd like to parachute in the winds of Saturn," she said, and Ruben's eyes widened in the back of the classroom.

Mrs. Gray studied the note, and Sam was glad that Ruben hadn't signed his name on it. "It's a way us teenagers say no- it's like, you know, I'd rather kiss a rat's-," "To the principal's office, Ms. Puckett!" Mrs. Gray screamed out then- which was probably for the best, considering what Sam was about to say.

"I'm going to have to confiscate this note as well," she said, and Sam just shrugged. "That's not the important note to me," she said, pulling Freddie's note out of her back pocket to show Carly what she meant. When she slid it back in and walked away, her friend smirked after her. Only Carly could probably understand what Sam had meant then.

Mrs. Gray sat back down, pulling her book up to her face again. "Get on with your reading!" she screamed, and the students started writing furiously. Freddie grabbed Sam's backpack as Carly pushed the things in it and took it from him. "She'll probably be at my house when I get there, so I'll give it to her," she mumbled, loud enough so only people in about a foot's radius could hear- which excluded Mrs. Gray.

"Why'd she stand up for me like that?" Freddie asked, confusion obvious in his eyes. "I don't know, she always sticks up for me. I'm sure she's helped you out more than just this time," Carly shrugged as if it were no big deal, and turned back to her history book quickly with a nervous glance in Mrs. Gray's direction. Freddie turned and stared at the teacher in front of him, a knot forming in his stomach.

"Hey there, Teddy!" Sam said as she sat in the chair across from the principal. He sighed, not even attempting to reprimand her for calling him by his first name this time. He merely pulled out a suspension slip, and the color in Sam's face drained.

"I'm sorry about this Samantha- but I warned you. You knew very well that when you came in here I would suspend you- you've been in here _twenty times_ since school started," he said, writing on the slip furiously with only one look up in her direction.

Sam just avoided his eyes, taking the slip he passed to her as his secretary guided her outside, where her mother was supposed to be picking her up soon. Sam sighed sadly as the secretary sat her on a bench. "Now don't you move, another teacher should be out here soon to watch you," the woman reprimanded as she fled back into the school quickly.

Sam knew fairly well her mother wouldn't show up- when did she?- so she started walking towards the Shay's apartment- towards the Shay and the Bensons' apartments- kicking at the dust on the sidewalk as she went. "I left my backpack!" she said, as if that were the bad part of the entire day.

Annoyed with herself for getting into trouble- not actually for this time, but for all of the times before this- she was surprised when a piece of paper slipped from her back pocket. She crouched down to sweep up the paper with Freddie's overly neat handwriting on it.

**I don't know. I thought I would really mind this, but I don't, you know? Do you think that's weird?**

"I dodged a bullet there," Sam muttered to herself as she was about to toss the note into the trash can- but instead she crumpled it up into her hand and slipped it back into her pocket, a small smirk on her face as she entered the apartment building.


	5. Chapter 5: iDon't Love Him

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any other characters on it.

Author's Note: So this is more of a filler chapter- I know, I know, but Seddie takes time- the fluffy ends to all Seddie fics are worth the wait. xD

"Hey there cupcake!" Sam called out to Carly when she walked in the door. She had her feet kicked up on the coffee table, a slice of beef jerky held tightly in her hand. Only Carly, Spencer and Freddie could _truly_ understand how protective Sam could be over her meat products.

Carly wasn't even surprised to see her friend- she just grinned as she set both of their backpacks down on the floor. Spencer was staring at Sam with confusion- he was always bewildered when he got home to find her in the living room already- and Carly just gave his questioning look an answering shrug. She had learned long ago not to ask Sam too much- the answer was always, "You know my cousin in jail?" "Which one?" "Actually, all of them." "Um, yeah?" "They taught me how to pick locks, of course. When they weren't in jail."

It wasn't necessarily a pleasant conversation.

"I brought your backpack!" she said, glancing across the hall through the open door. She wanted Freddie to come talk to Sam, especially after she had dragged what he had written in his note out of him. Yet, at the same time, she _definitely_ wanted time to drag a few questions out of her best friend as well.

Sam noted the backpack in the back of the room, grinning over at her friend as she took a large bite. "Thanks Carls- how cool are you?" she laughed when she finished chewing, and Carly merely mirrored the exuberant look on her face as she looked at Spencer with wide eyes, gesturing for him to head into his bedroom.

He stood in front of Sam for a moment. "Where'd you get that beef jerky?" he asked quietly, his voice unusually strained. Sam and Carly exchanged a strange look before Sam turned her gaze back onto Spencer, head cocked to one side.

"Your bedroom. You had like, a pile of beef jerky. You should be glad I only took seven," she said, nodding her head and her finger at Spencer. "You know how hard it is to stop eating beef jerky- for me, at least. It's like those potato chip sayings. You can't eat just one strip," she mused, leaning past Spencer to watch television again.

"My sculpture is ruined!" Spencer screamed as he ran to his bedroom, his arms flailing behind him. The girls watched for a moment before turning back to the TV, unfazed.

"Should I ask?" Sam questioned, raising her eyebrows as she brought a clenched fist to rest on her knee. "Yeah, don't," Carly said, shaking her head.

Carly never would've noticed the strange manner in which her friend was holding her right hand- cautiously laid on her knee in that tight fist- if she hadn't of turned to ask her about her love for beef jerky. Of course, as soon as she saw the tiny edge of a piece of paper sticking out, all questions about beef jerky fled her mind.

Sam never missed a beat- without even _looking_ at Carly she spun her fist around and then shoved it deep into her pocket. She took another bite of her beef jerky, staring at the TV as if nothing happened. She turned to Carly slowly when she felt the intensity of the girl's stare- curiosity bored into her as soon as she saw Carly's expression.

"What?" she demanded. She didn't _want_ to explain to her friend what she had been holding, but she did want to know why Carly cared so much.

The impact of Carly's sudden attack would've made any normal person fall to the floor. The confusion and fear would've pressed that person to reach into their pocket, pull out the note from the person they were 'dating' and hand it obediently over. Of course- Sam was not a normal person.

She ducked off the couch just a second before Carly's grabbing hands reached her pocket, and finished off her beef jerky as she ran to the other side of the kitchen. "What are you hiding?" Carly screamed, shooting a glance over her shoulder to make sure nobody was watching before she pursued her friend.

Sam smirked widely. Carly- when driven to it- could be seemingly _insane_. That was probably a good reason why the two were best friends.

"Calm down Carls, it's just a note from your tech weenie," Sam rolled her eyes as if she didn't even care, though she stood at the other end of the kitchen, completely tensed to bolt to the elevator, up the stairs, across the hall- anywhere she needed to get out of Carly's reach.

"He's not _my_ tech weenie- I mean, he's not _mine_. He's _your's_ technically- he is your _boyfriend_," Carly rolled her eyes, and Sam merely gagged. It was the _second_ time she had gagged at just the mention- the _hint_ of Freddie today. She hadn't realized how hard it would be to tolerate this whole situation, or she might've just made up some over the top elaborate plan to beat up Ruben.

Suddenly that seemed very appealing- but she would get her money's worth.

Carly stared at the flaring emotions on her best friend's face. There was disgust- which was expected. It was the emotion that came to her mind whenever she thought of Sam's feelings towards Freddie. Then, there was a flash of remembrance- which was covered up quickly with a hint of curiosity- Sam's brows furrowed as if creating a plan. Then, there was a tiny smile on her face as her eyes flashed to look across the hall.

A smirk lit up Carly's face. She had seen these emotions several times before- for Frankie, when they were only little girls. Of course, it subsided when Sam broke the boy's leg, but still. And- she hated to even _think_ about this- for Jonah. For some reason, those looks didn't subside for a while- but Sam sure tried hard to cover them up. These looks were all minus the disgust, of course. Sam reserved that horrified look on her face solely for their tech producer.

"You love Freddie," Carly said simply, her smirk growing bigger by the second. She wondered if she could give Sam a drink and film her next time she said that- it would probably be wonderful for a spit take, considering the way Sam looked like her beef jerky might just rise out of her throat.

"What makes you think that, Carls? I swear, Spencer is starting to wear off on you- next you'll be making a sculpture out of perfectly good _ham_, or even _bacon_," Sam rolled her eyes, obviously trying to change the subject. Carly was unfazed.

"You love your tech weenie, you love your tech weenie!" she cried out in a sing-song voice, and Sam's eyes were huge. "Come on, Sam. He's the 'only boy you can stomach?' You stood up for him in the middle of class today- usually you'd just _blame_ him. Then, I come home to find you holding his note on the couch!" she screamed out the last bit with an even bigger smirk.

Sam's shock that Carly knew it was _the_ note showed- but only for a second before she masked it with annoyance. "You're disturbing me, really. Maybe you should lay down- take a couple of Tylenol. Or, if you keep spouting out stuff like that I'll just beat you over the head," she rolled her eyes.

Carly remained triumphant. She would not let her friend live this reaction down- despite all the threats. Considering Freddie's note, she had an idea that she could press the two friends into possible _real _dating- but it would only work if Sam didn't actually _detest _the boy. Besides, she knew her best friend well enough to know she would never _actually_ hurt her- or at least she hoped.

"You love-," Carly screamed out at the same time Sam went to lunge at her, but both suddenly halted when a brunette boy entered the room, calling out, "Hey guys!" as he came.

Sam's eyes widened for a fraction of a second, but then went back to normal- though she exchanged a stern glance with Carly before speaking to Freddie.

"Hey tech weenie," she said, and Freddie narrowed his eyes at her. But, the anger was gone immediately. "Well, Sam, if you're waiting for a well thought out insult, I don't have any. I've been too busy trying to think of how to say…" he paused then, mocking sickness. "Thank you."

Sam rolled her eyes, stepping back to the couch to sit down. "Don't worry about it. I do it for Carls all the time," she said, emphasizing her friend's name. She tried to make Carly realize that she held Freddie up to the same standards- but even _she_ was finding it hard to keep up this 'façade' as her friend called it. Carly's words were making her think _way_ too much- and she tried to reserve her thoughts for things more important like Freddie- which basically meant, reserve her thoughts for anything but Freddie.

"But you never do it for me," Freddie pointed out as he sat next to her. He thought he got a little too close to her comfort zone, because she jumped up immediately- but with the look Sam shot Carly, it was completely different.

"Yeah, well, thanks to the your unswift note passing skills I get an _excused _day off from school tomorrow- I should be thanking you," the smirk on her lips seemed to be a faint trace of the typical smug look on her face as she swung her backpack over her shoulder.

Freddie opened his mouth to say something, but closed it as Sam turned to walk out the door. She turned to Carly with an apologetic smile, as if she could sense her friend's anger.

"I'll come over after you get out from school tomorrow, okay? I'm going to pick something up to eat at home," she said, not even bothering to think of an excuse about her mother actually making dinner.

Freddie turned to look at Carly when Sam walked out, but all she did was shrug- and then smirk even more victoriously when he turned around.


	6. Chapter 6: i'll Miss You Guys

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

Author's Note: So, this is one of my favorite chapters. :D Hope you all agree!

Sam stood across the street from the apartment early the next morning, her arms folded as she watched Spencer drive Carly off towards school. It was annoying, watching her best friend get to go to school while she was stuck back for defending her and Freddie. She couldn't even hang out at home and watch TV or something- her mother would send her to boot camp or something of the sort if she found out she got suspended. So, for the next day, Sam was stuck hanging outside.

She considered her options. She could spend the day out in the town- which was appealing, but could get boring quickly when she was just on her own. She could linger in Groovy Smoothies, but she didn't have _that_ much money on her. She didn't get an allowance at all- her money came strictly from stolen wallets and Gibby's pockets. She could spend the day at Carly's house- but Spencer seemed like he would be holding a small grudge on her since she 'ruined' his sculpture.

Maybe it was for this confusion that Sam didn't notice when he showed up behind her- maybe it was because of the underlying reasons she had stuck in her head that she didn't. Maybe it was just the loud noises of the cars blaring past her that she didn't notice- but basically, she didn't notice.

"Hey Sam," a quiet, familiar voice sounded, and she spun around quickly- acidentally flicking the intruder of thoughts in the face with her long curls- and froze in spot, shock evident on her face.

But, as usual, she covered it up quickly.

"Whoa, Fredward. School is going to start in a few moments- isn't part of the Freddie Benson Master Plan having a perfect attendance record?" she snickered easily, but Freddie seemed unfazed, just as Carly had yesterday. He just mirrored her movements- his legs held in a defensive stance (just in case it turned ugly, as it often did with Sam) - and his arms folded as he watched her with annoyance.

"You totally ignored me yesterday," he said, trying to mask the confusion with anger. Sam just rolled her eyes- he should've known that she wouldn't care if he was angry. He _had_ known her most of his life- and he had been laughed at for his anger for most of his life as well.

She folded her arms though, waiting for him to talk. She ignored him _most_ of the time- why should now be any different?

"Why'd you stand up for me in class?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes again. It was an annoying habit of her's- she seemed to roll her eyes at everything he did. She turned and walked away, keeping her arms folded tightly as he followed her quickly, heaving his backpack higher up on his shoulders as he went.

"All I did was tell her it wasn't your fault- I was _going_ to blame it on Gibby or Ruben, but then Carls jumped up and I _had_ to defend both of you. I couldn't just blame it all on you," she closed her eyes to hide the flicking motion beneath her lids.

Freddie stared at her with narrowed eyes, trying to study her expression as she walked ahead. Of course, it was a lie. She wasn't going to blame it on Gibby or Ruben. Panic had shot through her though- it _was_ her fault, after all. Besides, she had thought if Freddie wasn't there to be her 'boyfriend,' then she would have to deal with Ruben following her around- he _had_ left her alone a lot more with Freddie right there.

"Where are you going, anyways?" he demanded, and she laughed at him as she stopped in front of their school, gesturing for him to head up the stairs as she took a seat on one of the steps.

"School _is_ staring soon, Frednerd. Unless you were planning on _ditching_," she laughed at just the idea of it, but she watched him enviously. It would be a lot more fun to be inside the school hanging out with her best friend, pranking Gibby, even setting up another bowling rink- it would be a _lot_ more fun than standing outside shipping someone into school.

Freddie glared at her. "How do you know I wasn't planning on ditching?" he asked, despite the backpack on his shoulders and his worried look as he checked his watch. It was pretty obvious he would probably _never_ ditch.

"Did your mother put some hormones in your Wheaties today?" Sam asked him, practically reeling in her hysterical laughter at the idea of him ditching school. "Not only would your mother beat you to a pulp if she found out, but what would you even _do_? You're still not allowed to cross the street by yourself- I'm impressed you managed to get away from her clutches this morning!" she continued to snicker as she sat on the steps, smoothing her shirt when she did.

He didn't say anything for a moment- but there was still the reminder that he had only a few more minutes before he _had_ to go to class, so he had to hurry his comebacks up- unless he wanted Sam to have the final say.

"I s'pose you need hormones though, unless you want hairless legs for the rest of your life," Sam added though, attempting to provoke him further. He glared at her- annoyed that she had snapped at him before he got the chance to think up an appropriate comeback- but he _still _couldn't think of anything.

"Come on, Fredward- it's no fun laughing at you if you don't even try to talk back," she said, though she didn't laugh at him this time. She looked _actually_ sad. It was one of the few times he had ever seen her depressed.

He contemplated sitting down next to her, but he thought she might hit him. Nobody was around to see his 'girlfriend' beating him, giving her all the more reason to do so.

But he still sat down next to her, resting a cautious hand on her shoulder. "I'm guessing you wish you hadn't stuck up for me?" he asked, and she glanced over at him with a look that suggested she _was_ about to break his spine right here in public, with possible witnesses- but she gave him a hesitant smirk instead.

"Nah, Fredward. I would've felt too guilty, like when you and Carls were going to get in trouble for changing your grade," she shrugged, looking at his hand weirdly for a moment before she rested her head against the side of the stairs. She didn't want him to think she _actually_ had a conscience, but it was hard to have so many things on it constantly.

She glared at people passing by as if she wanted to kill them, but Freddie just guessed she needed to take her anger out on someone else. He was grateful, if that _was_ what she was trying to do.

The bell rang, making it very obvious that Freddie had to go to class now- in four more minutes the tardy bell would ring and ruin his perfect attendance. Sam had been right, no matter how reluctant he was to admit it- part of his Freddie Benson Master Plan was having perfect attendance.

Sam stayed silent as he stood up, dropping his hands back to his sides. "I never thought I would miss school- I guess as soon as I go off on my own I'll change my mind though. Hey, do you have five bucks for Groovy Smoothies? All I've got is that fifty, of course," she said, holding her hand out expectantly.

Freddie rolled his eyes and handed her a roll of ones, and she smirked widely as she snatched it from his fingers. "Thanks, Fredward. Now get off to class," she said, pinching his cheek as he rolled his eyes again, slapping her hand away.

"Have a nice time in class! Don't get in trouble now!" Sam called after him, practically rolling in laughter as he ran up the steps to school, shooting her a few looks over her shoulder.

"Tell Carly I said hey- and I'll see you guys today after school," she added on, and Freddie gave her a weird look.

"You're going to be alone all day?" he asked, and she shrugged, nodding when he kept staring at her. "You don't even care that you'll be alone all day." He said slowly, his voice coming out almost _stupidly_ as he stared at her with narrowed eyes.

A shrug was his answer, but he had never expected anything more from Sam. It was her way to make his life a living hell, he supposed.

"Have a good day in school- you better not be checking out any other girls!" Sam called after him with a smirk as he shot a small smile back in her direction, walking into the school doors and rushing off.

Sam lingered until the bell rang, and then she waited five more minutes after that, staring at the doors he had disappeared through. Surprisingly, nobody else had shown up late for class. She was alone, standing outside.

Narrowing her eyes, she tried to wonder what she was waiting around for. Had she expected _someone_ to walk right back through those doors and show up in front of her? Had she expected him to back out, and actually _ditch_ class?

She laughed at the thought as she walked away from the school she wasn't welcome at for the day and towards Groovy Smoothies. She wasn't sure why she found herself missing school- she slept through most of it anyways.

She would be right there after school, waiting for them- so she didn't understand why she missed them right now.


	7. Chapter 7: iTold You So

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

Author's Note: This chapter is actually rather short, but I'll get another one up soon, which will hopefully be more interesting to you. :D Enjoy!

"Hey Spence!" Sam called as she hopped into the room, bounding right over to the couch. He was in the kitchen, working on a sculpture- he eyed her warily, but showed no sign of a grudge.

"Hey Sam," he replied with a grin, running his hand defensively over the pile of batter in front of him. Sam didn't even want to ask what he was making- she had received _way_ too many weird answers in the past five or more years of knowing Carly.

"Carls hitching a ride home with Fredward today?" Sam asked very nonchalantly, but she winced a bit at the thought. Freddie's dream come true, right? At least in five more minutes she would see her best friends- that was the only reason she had come charging back from the convenience store so early.

Spencer glanced at the door and nodded- Sam cocked an ear and heard the voices. Freddie's mom must've been driving faster than usual today. With a snicker, Sam imagined the many reasons: a tick was seen near Freddie, calling for an immediate tick bath. There were too many clouds out, and Freddie needed to reapply his cloud block. They had a swimming lesson together, and she needed to buy Freddie another speedo.

Sam tried to appear as if she hadn't been laughing hysterically when her friends finally entered the door.

"Hey there Carly, boyfriend," Sam nodded to each, a smirk folding the corners of her lips up when she addressed Freddie. To her surprise- she was _too_ surprised to be annoyed, as she typically would be- he merely grinned at her and went to sit next to her as Carly sat on the arm of the couch grinning at her friend.

Freddie set a pile of papers in her lap, and Sam just rolled her eyes. "You brought me my homework?" she said with disgust, shoving him away from her. "Way to kill the mood, Fredloser," she tossed the papers to the side, but then picked them up quickly when she saw that the homework was already _done_.

"Rip Off Rodney heard about how you got suspended, and offered for us to get you the answers half off, so Freddie paid for it," Carly grinned, and Sam turned to Freddie, clapping him on the back.

Freddie tried not to wince.

"Thanks Fredward!" she said cheerfully, tossing the papers away. "You can sit back in your original spot," she smirked as she noted how she had shoved him all the way to the end of the couch, at least two feet away from her and Carly.

He hesitantly crept back next to her, afraid he had fallen for a trick- but she was ignoring him. He blinked for a moment, slightly miffed; then he realized how crazy that was, and glanced up at her and Carly, trying to get back into the conversation.

"It was _so_ boring without you here today!" Carly sighed, slipping almost into Sam's lap from the side. Sam grinned, pushing herself out of the way lickety split as usual as she set one leg casually over Freddie's.

He just rolled his eyes, though he stared at her leg for a long time, shocked.

What an idiot.

"If you keep staring at my leg Fredward, you're going to get a concussion- objects may be closer than they appear, right?" she snickered as she mocked kicking him in the face. He winced when her foot came close to his face, but he knew she would put it back down without hurting him. On rare days like this, when he had done something nice for him, her insults held back the typical physical pain they came with.

"Freddie missed you too," Carly said with a grin at Freddie, stretching her arm around Sam to put her hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her hand and then nodded at Sam with a small smile. Typically, this motion would've sent him into hyperventilation, but he was hardly even listening to Carly, let alone paying attention to her.

Sam turned her body to set her back across Carly's lap, resting her head on the arm of the couch so that she could watch both Carly and Freddie. She stretched her legs across his lap, sighing. "I think even school would've been better than what happened today. I spent half of the money you gave me," she locked eyes with Freddie for a moment. "On Groovy Smoothies, then spent the rest of the time at the convenience store down the street talking to the guys there."

Freddie narrowed his eyes and then closed them abruptly, not wanting Sam to see the expression on his face. It was strange, the way he kept staring at her; it was frightening him. He stared at Carly, trying to get the usual feeling in his stomach- but there wasn't a usual feeling to get from her. He didn't get that nauseating feeling like when he was around Sam when he was with Carly.

With a disturbed face, he thought of the next thing that came to his mind- she was like his sister. His sister that he _loved_.

Well, he used to.

His eyes widened though he kept them closed, and he was hardly aware when Carly said slowly, "All the guys down at the convenience store are criminals, Sam." Panic was shooting through him when he tried to think through his own thoughts. When had his mind started to betray him like this? What had he been doing this past week, and why had he been spending so much time with Sam rather than Carly? Why had he followed Sam to school this morning instead of riding with Carly?

He opened his eyes to find Sam's on his, though she looked away as soon as she saw him looking back. She looked at Spencer instead, her eyes narrowing as she tried to see the sculpture he was working on.

"They used to hang out with my cousins," she shrugged very nonchalantly, and Carly just rolled her eyes at her friend, but when she realized what had just passed between Sam and Freddie, she smirked.

Sam noticed the look on Carly's face out of her peripheral vision, and she elbowed the girl immediately. Freddie pretended he didn't notice the _umph!_ Carly gave as she clutched her ribs, shoving Sam off of her lap quickly.

Freddie began to instinctively reach out for her, but all he saw was a flash of blonde hair as she managed to land on her feet. She took a seat on the other side of him, then, smirking over at Carly.

"You're mean," Carly said after a moment of fishing for words, and Freddie grinned as she looked back at Sam.

"That's why you love me," she said, glancing at Freddie and Carly in a whole- Freddie gulped when the meaning hit him. She was referring to both of them in the _you_. Carly leaped to her feet suddenly with another smirk, yanking Sam up by the back of her shirt as she dragged her up the stairs, calling out, "Bye Freddie!" as she went.

"Later Fredward, thanks for the answers!" Sam called with a sneer as she nodded her temporary good bye to Spencer, who just lifted a single hand to wave at her before glancing over at Freddie with sympathy for his seeming rejection.

Freddie sat still for a long moment, and then went to walk away- but a piece of paper caught his eye on the couch, where Sam had been sitting. He picked it up gently, hearing, "I told you so!" come loudly from upstairs, but he didn't try to think of why Carly was saying that.

The note wasthe note _he _had written to Sam yesterday, the note she had gotten suspended over. He glanced around before he crumpled up his fist, grinning as he hurried to his apartment across the hall.


	8. Chapter 8: i'M Not Going Soft

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

(Authors notes are going to go on the bottom from now on. :D)

"I never realized how fun it is at school- you know, when you're not learning," Sam told Carly as she walked into the school, looking around as if she hadn't been there in weeks. Carly merely grinned over at her friend, but she stopped grinning when a few kids started to laugh as she and Sam passed by.

"What are you laughing at?" Sam demanded of the nearest boy when he looked at them and started cracking up. He didn't answer, shaking his head, and Carly looked away quickly when Sam looked back at her.

Sighing, Sam grabbed her friend by the elbow and dragged her away from the mess. Carly was shocked by this- Sam typically would've punched the boy in the face and demanded an answer from him. But here she was, dragging her to a private bench as she demanded, "What are they laughing at?"

Gulping, Carly guiltily admitted what the gossip she had heard around school was. "People are saying you're losing your 'edge' because you're 'going soft' for Freddie." She was careful to put air quotes around what people said, or else for all she knew Sam might think she was talking about what _she_ had said about her, and then- even if they _were_ best friends- there was no guessing what Sam might do.

She kicked a nearby locker, and the boys who had been laughing fled as if she had just kicked one of them. Gibby moaned quietly as he said, "That's the fifth locker I've gotten in the past three weeks!" Sam shoved him away moodily, glaring at him.

"Where's your loser friend?" she demanded, effortlessly pulling the door off of his locker as she scooped up the few books he had and shoved them hard in his chest.

As if on cue, Ruben appeared at Sam's side. Carly screamed, trying to muffle it as she closed her hands tight over her mouth, but Sam just stared at him and wrapped her arms around him like she were about to hug him.

Sam had had enough, and Carly and Gibby grimaced when they saw that in her eyes. Carly wasn't sure what was happening- she had no idea why her friend was about to hug Ruben, and she had no idea what was going on.

Ruben grinned at Sam and held his arms out to her, not even bothering to defend himself anymore. He seemed overjoyed- his eyes were wide and happy.

Sam punched him in the mouth.

"OW!" he screamed, and Carly grinned to see Sam's smirk.

"Glad you didn't have some crazy stupid statement just to get that out," she said, beaming at her best friend behind her. Carly returned the look, though there was more to her's- amusement, amazement. Surprise.

Then Freddie was there, staring with confusion as Gibby sighed and ran after a sobbing Ruben, who was clutching his jaw as he went. "What's up with them?" he asked, gesturing. He didn't seem to notice the crowd clinging- the previous crowd of laughing boys. Boys that were generally Sam's 'detention friends.' Boys that smirked at her from every direction, waiting to see her going soft.

Freddie's face was so innocent, and almost a tad hopeful. Sam looked back at Carly, who had disapproval plain on her face. Sam made a desperate expression appear on her face to answer Carly, who sighed and then nodded. Freddie cocked an eyebrow, confused.

"What?" he asked cautiously, resting his hand on Sam's shoulder nervously. It was something she had been letting him do so much lately that he felt like it was no big deal.

She shoved his hand off roughly, and a cackle went through the boys gathering around them 'casually.'

Carly winced when Freddie tried to make eye contact with her, searching for an answer in her. She turned away quickly, and jumped up to the vending machine near the bench. She slid in a dollar nonchalantly as she shoved her finger on a random button, as if she ever bought _Diet_ Peppy Cola.

"Freddie, I think we should 'break up,'" Sam laughed at her use of air quotes, and Freddie stared at her, his jaw dropped. Carly sighed and leaned her head against vending machine. Sam would need her afterwards, and she was always there for her best friend- but she wished she could comfort her other best friend as well.

"Why?" Freddie whispered so quietly that only Sam could hear him. Carly was straining a bit to hear his almost desperate tone, but the other boys took no notice. They were waiting for Sam to 'go soft.'

And in Carly's eyes, Sam was stupid to try to have a good reputation in _their_ eyes.

Sam's sad sigh escaped before she could stop it. The boys smirked at each other, and she turned her expression on him with a hardness Freddie had never seen before. A glare she had never fixed on him before.

"Fredward, this was just a game. Help to get rid of Ruben. You helped, and I finished the job. I'm grateful," her voice cracked a tiny bit- unnoticeable to anyone but Carly, who took a small step forward. "All you wanted was your fifty bucks, correct?" she asked, not even noticing when Freddie shook his head. She was too busy already yanking the money out of her pocket.

She offered a crumpled fifty to him, gesturing at him with the money to take it. He shook his head, even taking a step back.

"I don't want your money Sam," he said, sighing. Sam rolled her eyes, but she sighed again.

"Take the money," she commanded him in her harshest voice, taking two steps closer to him. She glared up at his eyes, and she found a strange urge to stand up a little taller and…

But she turned her head sharply away from him and held the money up. Freddie's voice was her reply- she didn't look up at his face to see even more of the anger and sadness in his voice as he uttered one very firm word- "No."

"Fine," Sam rolled her eyes again, crumpling the money into a tiny ball as she threw it at him. He caught it, and she walked away. "Throw it away for all I care. Give it to someone. I don't want the money, Freddie. We made a deal, and I _can_ be honorable." The words were a hiss as Carly sighed and hung one arm around her friend's shoulder.

Freddie held the money tightly in his fist, and then he heard the laughter behind him. All of Sam's 'friends' were practically rolling with laughter. Guffaws, chortles, and snickers- each distinct laugh rang out in the hallway. It echoed, the way her words were echoing his mind.

Had he been so stupid to think that this was turning into something? Had be been stupid enough to think that Sam Puckett could maybe feel the same way that he was starting to feel?

Obviously, he had.

"Man, are you going to keep that money, or can we really have it?" one of the boys asked, his laughter louder than ever. Freddie stared at him for a moment. He would give the money back to Sam.

Okay, he wasn't brave enough for _that_. Their complete relationship had just been shredded. Of course, in her eyes, there was never a relationship. But in his mind…there had been _something_. He wasn't too sure what, but it was something. It was a good something. An important something.

He would give the money, and the note and its addition, _and_ a new addition to Carly, and he would hope that she would give it to Sam. He hoped Sam would take it. He hoped they would be able to continue iCarly as if Sam hadn't ripped apart his heart and stamped on it.

So in the next class he had, he gave the stuff to Carly wrapped up in a white piece of paper with his note to _her_ on it.

**Please give this stuff to Sam. Sorry to put you in the middle, but I'm afraid she'll kill me or something. Thanks, if you agree to it. It's okay if you don't.**

Carly sighed as she stared down at the note, and the _other_ notes, and the money. She closed it, closed her eyes, and then opened them and nodded once. She tried to make it seem casual, feeling Sam's eyes on her.

"What did Freddork want?" Sam asked when they were at Carly's house. Typically, Carly would stand up for Freddie, but she had no idea what to say. And if she did say something, it might just sabotage her relationship with Sam, which would in turn sabotage her relationship with Freddie.

"He wants me to give you this," she merely said apologetically as she handed her the stuff. She half expected Sam to rip it in half, but she opened the white piece of paper to see the things.

**I don't know. I thought I would really mind this, but I don't, you know?**

Sam made a tiny, soft choking noise in the back of her throat as she tried to pretend she hadn't gone crazy searching for this note yesterday.

**Hey Sam. I hope you didn't notice that note was missing- okay, I know you probably didn't. I was just really surprised when I found it on the couch. I never thought you would keep it around like that. Sam, I…**

**I have something really important to tell you. Something that I have to say in person. If you don't mind, I just want to talk to you.**

Sam winced then. She knew what was coming. She realized only now- too late- what she had done today. What she had done to Freddie. Carly cleared her throat and reminded her, "There's another note."

Sam reluctantly tossed the current note aside and began to read the next one.

**Never mind about the something important. It's something really stupid now. I'm not calling you stupid or anything, just me. I was stupid. My ideas are stupid. Never mind.**

**Did I…do something today? To bug you? I'm sorry. I just, don't know. I…**

**Never mind, like before. Ignore this whole note. You probably will anyways, won't you? Just keep the money. I never wanted the money. I don't want the money now. If you try to give me that money again, it's going to turn into some all out money war. I don't want it. I don't want to think about this.**

**I'll see you around for iCarly, I guess. I'll be the dork behind the camera. Just ignore me.**

Sam choked up a bit, and Carly rushed forward to put her arms around her friend's shoulder. "Sam…?" she trailed off with a desperate voice. She wanted to fix whatever was upsetting her friend. She wanted to take care of her.

Sam folded up the fifty and set it on the floor, and she grabbed the notes carefully as she stared at them, rereading each one over and over again. It was strange, to see someone toss aside money and read the notes. In Sam's eyes, the notes were valuable.

"Nothing, cupcake. Don't worry about this. Fredweird's just trying to win me over, or something. I'll make nice with him- during iCarly," Sam said a tad smugly. She couldn't manage much more than that. The thought of a smirk with these notes in her hand was unbearable.

As she prepared to walk away, she hesitated and looked over her shoulder at the floor. The fifty was right there, where she had dropped it.

Reluctantly, she picked it up. Carly tried to stop her when she walked away, pleading, "Please Sam. Just talk to him. Talk to him, and fix things. Make things go back to the way they were."

Sam's laugh came out cruelly instead of the mocking way she had meant it. Carly shrunk into the couch as Sam mumbled almost incoherently, "I don't want to fix things. I'm just going to ignore him from now on. That's what he said to do in the note, anyways."

And then she walked away, and side stepped Freddie without a second glance when she had to get around him coming down the stairs towards the lobby.

Author's Note: So, please don't be too angry with Sam. :( It's like how Stephenie Meyer talks about how her characters 'speak' to her- and Sam wanted to keep her reputation. Don't worry, at least one- maybe more- chapters are coming, giving Sam all the chances she needs to 'make nice.' :D Enjoy, and thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! It definitely does encourage me to update sooner, haha. You guys are great! xD


	9. Chapter 9: iGot Attacked By Scissors

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the other characters on it.

"Hello people of…" Sam trailed off and gestured to Carly with an overactive motion. She was staring directly at the camera lens, focusing extremely hard to make sure the boy behind it was completely out of her view. She hadn't spoken to him the whole time, and she didn't want to suddenly stare at him. She had caught herself doing that several times today- sometimes guiltily, and sometimes for other reasons. Reasons Sam Puckett wouldn't own up too.

"Jupiter!" Carly screamed, and Sam paused and gave Carly a scripted strange look. It was much more fun in iCarly rehearsals, she had to admit. When the show went live it was so _serious_. It seemed happy, fun, but the only time it was really happy and fun was the first time they acted it out. The other times were _way_ too 'prepared.'

Carly froze. "Oh…well…what I meant to say was…" she drifted off, as if she had made some big mistake.

"I'm Sam!" Sam shouted, and her gaze drifted acidentally to the boy behind the camera. She refused to think of him by name- he had told her to ignore her, and no matter how stupid it was, she would do that.

"I'm Carly, and that boy who's flipping the camera between me and Sam…that's Fredward Benson. His mother loves giant first aid kits-," Carly paused and looked at Sam.

Another scripted smirk. "Tick baths, tiny swimming trunks, and the double 'poo contract!" Sam cried out, snickering along with Carly. She didn't look at him again when she said this- she just went on laughing and focused on the camera. She was giving more eye contact to the viewers than she ever had before.

On this segment, they started off with the wig bit. "I'm Carly, and I do good things, because I'm a perfect kid," Sam had chimed innocently. Of course, she had been forced to be ridiculed by Carly- but it was something she had gotten used to on the show. Carly was a good kid, she was a bad kid- and her reputation meant everything to her, right?

"Next we're going to show Spencer and his…" Carly started, pausing as she and Sam screamed out while dancing, "Special Scissor Sculpture!"

"It remains unnamed for now, but we thought we'd show it to you and let _you guys_ pick out a name!" Sam screamed at the camera as it did a close up on her. She and Carly enjoyed a short bit of random dancing as Spencer waltzed in, dragging inside a giant pair of scissors with a bunch of small pairs glued on.

Sam ran her finger along one of the blades. "What do the smaller pairs do, Spence?" she asked, keeping eye contact with the camera while saying that, like she was supposed to.

"Well, Sam- thank you for asking," Spencer said in his deep tone reserved especially for iCarly. "I'd like to tell you, Carly, Freddie, _and_ the viewers about how every single smaller pair of scissors on this sculpture SPINS! And…I guess I just did…" he sighed sadly. He and Carly had been working on his timing, and apparently to no advantage.

"Plug that baby in, Spencer!" Freddie called. It was one of his few lines in this segment of iCarly. Sam had cut them out herself, of course.

Spencer plugged it in, and Sam and Carly _oohed_ and _awwed _as the scissors began to spin furiously in a tight circle.

Then, of course, the entire sculpture started to rock back and forth.

"Uhm, Spencer, is that supposed to happen?" Carly asked nervously, and Spencer quickly unplugged the sculpture. Of course they had tried this numerous times- the sculpture continued to shake with its gathered momentum.

"Hit the floor!" he screamed out loud, which was basically becoming his catchphrase on the show. Freddie dodged away from the camera when one pair whirled to the spot he had been standing previously, and Carly gave a loud scream as Sam shoved her into a bean bag chair, and a pair of scissors flew past the spot her head had been.

Spencer was lying on the floor with his head covered, mumbling something about "Déjà vu!" Carly was saying, "Thanks Sam! Get down! Sam! Get down _right _now!" Sam, however, was suddenly frantic.

"Look out!" she screamed, and she tackled Freddie to the floor when three pairs spun at him when he had turned around to lay the camera down to protect it. He fell loudly and roughly against the wood as the scissors flew by them. One pair got caught in Sam's hair as she fell, but she shook her head twice fiercely when they hit the floor and it flew safely to the carpet, no hair having been chopped off at all.

Freddie stared up at Sam, about to breathe thanks. She was staring down at his eyes, her blue ones wide open. There were other pairs of scissors flying to the floor around them, but Spencer had crawled to the sculpture and stopped its rocking.

And then she left.

"Gotta go!" she said to the camera, grinning at it widely. The way she said it made it sound like she did this all the time- Carly sighed. She had expected this much, of course. She was just grateful that Sam had stuck around _this_ long. Long enough to save her and Freddie from scissors to the head. But she was still angry at the way Sam gracefully ducked the last pair of scissors that shot at her leg, though another pair caught in her jeans.

"Well, that possible killing spree is all we have left for iCarly!" Carly said cheerfully, and Freddie stared at the camera with a dead look in his eyes. Carly turned it off before it could focus on him too long- he was already stumbling towards the elevator like a zombie.

As soon as the elevator doors closed Carly burst down the staircase. Of course she got there before Freddie, and so she pushed a few buttons to send Freddie back up again before he could exit.

"Sam!" she yelled, and Sam jumped up from her seat on the kitchen counter when Carly rounded the corner.

"Geez Carls, chill," Sam rolled her eyes easily as she continued to digest what looked like a nearly destroyed ham that lay on the plate next to her. "Its not like we could've continued iCarly like I hadn't gotten a pair of scissors clipped through my _shorts_," Sam snickered and showed Carly the hole in her pants.

Carly folded her arms.

"Why are you doing this, Sam? You saved Freddie's life-," "Oh come, on!" Sam interrupted her, rolling her eyes again. "It's not like my uncle Frank hasn't taken a pair of scissors to the head less than five…eleven times! Freddie can't get any more brain damaged than he is at this point-,"

Carly's hand swept out surprisingly fast.

At first, Sam expected her best friend to _hit_ her, and she didn't even attempt to defend herself. _If Carly wants to hit me_, she thought to herself, _I deserve it_.

But no, Carly wasn't trying to hit Sam.

The plate of ham struck the floor with a loud clatter the same time Freddie came out of the elevator with Spencer, telling him about the, "Weird way the elevator just came back up in the middle of the way down…" He stopped in his tracks when he saw Sam's horrified face.

"You hit my ham." Sam said in a quiet voice, and Carly smirked and nodded. "Why would you hit my ham? What would possess you to do such a horrible thing? I was gonna _eat_ that ham!" Sam's voice came out as a scream, and Carly was shocked.

"I can't believe you just threw my ham on the floor!" Sam continued to shout, practically in hysterics. Her nostrils flared and her eyes spun wildly from Carly to the ham. Spencer and Freddie stepped back, but Carly shook her head. Her eyes were huge, and she said quickly, "Sam, you're overreacting."

Sam choked out a gasp. "_Overreacting_? _I'm_ overreacting?!" she said this as if it were crazy, and the thought of that was funny. But nobody laughed.

"Sam, you're not really mad at _me._ C'mon, Sam," Carly pleaded, and Sam snapped her mouth shut tightly.

She stood there for a long time, staring at Carly very steadily as her chest heaved with her breath. She picked the ham up diligently; taking longer than she needed to as she set the dirt covered ham up. It had landed on a puddle of soap spilling from the cabinet- completely ruined.

"You're right, I guess," Sam muttered as she tossed the ham to the side. "Sorry, Carls. I think I better just stay clear of this place for a while," she patted her friend on the back and walked out the door, and Carly leaped forward, trying to catch up to her. Of course, Sam just quickened her pace and was already out the door. The sound of the elevator signaled her leave.

"I need to go get her, I shouldn't have pushed her- I should've been thanking her, even if it does just brain damage you," Carly mumbled in a mess, feeling guilty. _I should've known what was up with Sam_, she put herself down more and more, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

Freddie shook his head. "Nah, Carly, she's not mad at you. She's probably mad she saved me," he made a face for a moment, and then an idea seemed to dawn on his face with a bright smile.

"I'll go talk to her," he said, suddenly determined, and took off running down the staircase.

Author's Note: Will Freddie catch up to Sam? Will he stop her? Or will Sam be too fast? Dunno. Ha, sorry for the long break between chapters. I'll try to get the next one up a lot faster. :D By the way, I've been getting ideas for stories that I'll be working on soon as well, and I wanted to say if anyone else were ever to have any ideas, go ahead and share them. (: Thanks for reading everyone, and thanks to all the reviewers so far!


	10. Chapter 10: iKinda Like You

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any of the characters on it.

Freddie felt stupid for thinking it would be so easy to catch Sam. Who was he kidding? Sam could run laps around him if she wanted, and it was easy to understand why she'd want to be as far away as possible from him now.

_She probably wishes I had got speared in the head by those scissors_, he thought to himself bitterly as he ran down the stairs. _She probably wishes that she hadn't of pushed me down. I bet it was just instincts. If she had gotten time to think about it, she wouldn't have helped. She would've let me get scissored. _

He leaped out of his thoughts when he saw a flash of blonde hair outside. With his luck, he was probably out to go chase after a total stranger. He was probably going to be lunging after a random blonde, and he would probably get arrested and prosecuted, and Sam would probably tape his 'Boy Gone Bad' story when it appeared on CNN, and she would probably show it at parties.

But he knew it was Sam when he got out of the apartments and saw her running down the street. He recognized her layered top and jean shorts, and her long blonde curls and her lithe limb. He recognized the way her feet slammed against the pavement, covered in black Converse. He recognized the way she pushed past people, and he recognized her voice when she screamed, "Outta my way, losers!"

He tried to mimic her actions, hoping people would move out of the way for him as well. Of course, he didn't dare scream. The moment Sam heard his voice she would push her legs to go even faster. Even though she was passing by the cars occasionally, she could still go even _faster_ if she wanted to. This was like a jog for her.

Luck have it, she slowed and then stopped to wait at a bus stop. Luck was falling easily into place for Freddie- it was almost unnerving. He didn't like the way that things typically happened when starting like this. Everything would fall into place except for the goal, and the rejection of her would rip him apart in worse ways then before…

"Sam," he said when he was behind her. He half expected her to turn around and punch him. The other half expected her to get up and bolt a mile down to the next bus stop, the downtown one where her cousins probably hung out all the time- it _was_ the typical place for crime sprees, after all.

Freddie definitely _wasn't_ expecting her to just sit there and not react at all. He did not expect her to, after five minutes of him just staring at her, get up and turn to look at him. He did not expect her to walk around the bench towards him. He did not expect her to say, "I'm an idiot."

"What was that?" he asked, completely dumbfounded. Sam was sitting on the edge of the top of the bench then, though, acting as if she hadn't done anything.

"What was what?" she hissed angrily, and his eyes widened. Sam's hiss was more menacing then he had ever remembered her sounding. But he still knew he had heard what he had heard.

"You said 'I'm an idiot!'" he repeated, and she snickered immediately. _Damn. _Freddie thought to himself. He had fallen into another trap, of course.

Trying to stop her laughing, Sam managed to get out, "I always call you an idiot, Freddie. You should be used to that by now," she laughed harder then, and Freddie was just grateful she hadn't kicked him, and that she had actually called him Freddie, and not Freddork or Fredweird or Fredloser or Fredward even.

"Too depressed over your ham to even _really _mock me, huh?" he muttered almost incoherently, the words slipping out angrily. Sam stared at him for a moment, seemingly stunned into silence before she chuckled a bit.

"'Member when that guest speaker came to our school- that clown gone wrong gone good?" she snickered, and Freddie nodded slowly, though he wasn't too sure why she was going on about Chuckles so randomly. He had come to the school like two years ago.

"He said if you don't get your anger out properly, you'll take it out on something else…the ham seemed good. I mean, if Spencer had said, 'Hey Sam, your shoe's untied,' I probably woulda flipped a lid anyway. I _should_ punch you, and that would help me with my 'anger issues,'" Sam sneered at him, but she didn't move an inch.

Freddie had closed his eyes when she had said she should punch him, but when thirty painless seconds ended, he finally opened them. She hadn't moved at all, she hadn't closed her hand in a fist- she was grinning at him, even.

"Don't be surprised when your mom announces that you won fifty bucks when you get home today, either," she said smugly, and Freddie made a face.

"I told you to keep that money, Sam! I don't want it!" he complained, and Sam rolled her eyes at him.

"Oh, c'mon Fredward. Try to pretend you're a hormonal, greedy teenager for a moment and not a momma's boy. Why don't you want my money?" she demanded, jabbing a finger in his chest. Freddie couldn't help but give a tiny grin- this was the Sam he had been expecting all along. It was comforting to have her pointing fingers- literally! - at him.

The glare she gave him wiped the smile off of his face, though. It was hard to think of a way to explain it to her- to explain that he had been tending to forget this wasn't a real relationship lately. That he liked 'being' with her. That it wasn't anywhere near as bad as he had expected. That he wished he could turn back time and find out why she had 'broken up' with him.

"Answer one of my questions first," he demanded, and she rolled her eyes again.

"Shoot, Fredward, but don't expect me too answer if it's something like, 'What's my favorite color?'" she snapped, and Freddie almost took a step back. But the honest thing was he had been getting used to the painlessness of the time of their 'relationship.' It would take him time to get his instinctive reflexes back- he had been letting his guard down to much.

His attempt at a small smile at the hint of a grin on her lips faltered and then fell completely. "Well…why'd you end the relationship? I know it wasn't _real_, but I don't get why you…" he drifted off immediately, feeling stupid.

Sam's smile turned strangled and then fell as well. A shadow of something- guilt? - appeared on her face as she cocked her head to one side to stare around him. Finally, she just turned away from him, staring at the busy streets filling up as she answered him with a surprisingly steady voice.

"People were saying I was 'going soft' for you, Freddork. Freddie," she grinned a bit when she looked back at him. "Ya' coulda warned me there would be people laughing at me when I walked back into the hollowed halls of hell," she snickered a bit at her little nickname for the school, but then stiffened up and waited for his response.

"I didn't know people were…making fun of you," Freddie said slowly, and Sam shrugged. It was her answer to a lot of things like that. A shrug. She didn't want to think of the embarrassment.

"I didn't ever want the money, Sam," Freddie said finally, and she straightened up again, her eyes surprised and wide for a few seconds before they flashed back to regular. It was hard to shock Sam. She was a pro at 'keeping cool.' "I mean, it was a nice break, a good idea at the time, not to get beaten up so much for a week. I didn't think I would enjoy it at the time, though-,"

His jaw snapped shut immediately, and his eyes flew open at what he had just said. Sam bit her lip tightly- to resist from saying something, or from laughing at him?- and then grinned a tiny bit.

"You don't want the money." She said very stiffly, and Freddie shook his head. How many teenagers could admit to a fight where they were demanding the _other_ took money _from_ them?

"Because you liked dating me." She stated this very seriously. Freddie was surprised she didn't just laugh at him, but her eyes were dancing. Twinkling. He wasn't sure what to call the look in Sam's eyes, but it was a nerve racking look, and yet at the same time it was an encouraging look.

"Why?" she asked, folding her arms against her chest. She was going to force it out of him. The way the grin stretched from her eyes to the rest of the face proved it. Her lips turned up in a smile, and her cheeks turned rosy, and her nostrils flared with the strain of holding in her laugh. Her forehead crinkled up a bit at the way she tried to concentrate. Freddie noticed all of these things. He _always_ noticed all of those things, he realized.

She was going to make him say it. And Freddie was realizing he'd probably jump off of a cliff if Sam made him. Sam could probably make him do whatever she wanted. Sam just happened to have that effect on people.

Or maybe she only had that effect on _him_.

"'Cause," Freddie said snidely, folding his arms as well. He didn't expect what was going to happen next, but if he hadn't been dating her for the past week he might just have dodged it.

"Ow!" he screamed when her fist struck his stomach, and he leaped back and threw his arms in front of him for protection. At least his instincts were returning. Of course, Sam just stood there, not even making another move, so they were rather useless at the time.

"Don't be a smart ass then, Fredloser. You know by now that's only half of the pain of the typical punch I have," she grinned smugly, clenching her hand into a fist again before she let it lay back flat against her thigh. He glared at her through slitted eyes, but it was the truth. She had actually gone _easy_ on him. Of course, after he told her, who knew whether or not his face would meet the concrete…or the trashcan…or the bench…or the wall…or even an oncoming car. Who _ever_ knew with Sam?

"Okay, okay," he sniffed delicately, but he stayed far away. If being rude wasn't a problem, he would've gone and put the trash can in between them for protection. But, of course, that wasn't an option. He had to just spit it out, and so he did.

"Because I kind of like you," he said, and then covered his face immediately. The laughing made him uncover it.

Sam wasn't laughing at him. She was smiling a tiny bit, watching him carefully, and she had moved a few steps closer to him. The people passing by were laughing, having heard his confession and seen his actions. They were pointing him out to their friends, still grinning.

"Aw, man," Freddie complained, dropping his hands to the side. When Sam took another step towards him, getting extremely close to him, he realized that was probably a mistake. He could've at least protected his face when it hit one of the numerous objects listed before. Now he would probably end up spending a week in the hospital, or something.

But then, Sam did the unthinkable. She did something Freddie would've bet on his life she'd never do. She did something Carly had joked to her about in her 'You love him!' tirades, something that Sam herself hadn't even thought she would do.

But there was Sam Puckett, pressing her lips against Freddie Benson's.

Author's Note: I liked that chapter. :D It's always nice to get a good convo down for Seddie. They're two pretty complex characters- this was a challenge, I'll admit. ) I hope you guys liked it, there's going to be probably only one more after this. Whoa, all this time writing this story really flew by haha. Thanks for reading, and thanks to all the reviewers I got- the next (last?) chapter should be up soon!


	11. Chapter 11: The End

Disclaimer: I do not own iCarly or any other characters on it.

Even if it only lasted a second, Freddie's eyes stayed open the whole time. _What if it's a trick? What if she's just distracting me so it's easier to fling me into the freeway?_ He kept a close watch on her. And, in turn, she kept her eyes open for the few seconds and kept a watch on _him_. She looked strangely...smug.

When they broke apart, it was Sam who did so, which didn't come as a surprise to Freddie. He hadn't expected the moment to go on, and he had been hoping it would and his untimely death would come faster. But, deep down, he had a feeling Sam wasn't trying to trick him. He thought that maybe- _just maybe_- she liked him too. He couldn't imagine her putting her lips on his for any other reason.

"Don't just stand there like a limp fish, say something!" Sam demanded after a few silent moments, and Freddie dodged a kick in the shin with a bit of a smug look. It _was_ his turn to be smug, wasn't it? Nervousness leaked out of her voice, and the fidgety way she kicked at him was possibly the only reason he was able to dodge it. He didn't even know how a fish could be anything but limp, but he didn't protest.

"I don't know what to say," his words came out slowly. What was he supposed to say? "That was great, that was amazing, you're great, you're amazing, and despite your violent tendencies I still like you?" No. He _could not_ say any of that. He already seemed stupid enough chasing her down and getting punched and then just standing there like he was now- he didn't need to add to that list.

For a fraction of a second, Sam looked extremely upset. Her face fell from the nervous smile, her eyes seemed to die out, and she shot a deep breath out through her nostrils. But then, it was gone- hidden away behind the typical Sam Puckett 'tough girl' look she liked to keep on her face constantly. Her face froze in the same expression it always took on when she was talking to him. Only now did the expression make _sense_. Only now did Freddie understand she was trying to hide how she felt from him. Only now did he realize she never put on that look when she was with Carly. When she was with Carly, she was happy and angry and sad and confused- but not with him.

"Whatever," was the only thing she spit out. The way she said it though was worse than when she broke up with him and worse than before and worse than any of the other times combined. It was like she was speaking to a murder/rapist/kidnapper/pedophile. It was more painful than any other words he had remembered her saying, and she had said _a lot _of terrible things to him before.

"Sam, I didn't mean it like _that_," he said, but then she was pushing through the crowd again. She wasn't _running_ though. It was like she wanted him to catch up to her- she was only walking at a fast pace, pushing past people carelessly now as Freddie excused himself and her and kept up as best as possible. Of course, keeping up with Sam is next to impossible. He was basically stalking her through the crowd, but she was heading to a familiar place. She was heading to Carly's, he was guessing.

So he did the only thing he could think of at the moment- the most idiotic thing, probably.

He jumped into the street, stopping traffic as he ran down it. "Thank god it isn't the highway," he mumbled to himself, frustrated that there were no bike lanes. The cars sped to a stop, and the cars swerved, and Freddie had to leap out of the way occasionally- but he had seen Sam, oblivious to all of this, running almost to the apartment door, and this was the only way to put his plan into action.

"Get out of the street!" someone shouted at him, and he leapt onto the sidewalk just as Sam spun around to see just who was in the street, her face that of panic when she realized it was him. Freddie almost stopped in his tracks at the first sign of concern he had seen on her face for him in possibly..._ever_. But the thought of the sad look he had seen for a second pushed him forward as he jumped past her to block the door.

"Move out of the way, idiot. Why don't you go back in the street and get run down?" she gave a half hearted smirk as if this was truly her greatest comeback, but the dead tone she said it in made it fall flat.

Freddie just shrugged though as he headed back. "If you say so, Sam," he said, turning and walking away.

A hand on his arm stopped him.

"You know I don't _actually_ want you to get hit by a car, so get back here," she hissed in his ear, surprisingly close, as she dragged him inside and past the screaming Lewbert, into the small landing after the first fleet of stairs.

When Freddie gave her a questioning look, she just shrugged. "I don't want Carly to..." she drifted off, then shook her head. "Well, there _is_ nothing to see, but I don't want her to bug me anymore. So, you chased me down and tried to get yourself killed- smart boy, knowing there is no way in hell I'd talk to you otherwise. I'm guessing you want to say something?" There was the tiniest catch of hope on the word something, but the look on her face was the typical look. He hadn't broken through- he had just freaked her out enough to make her listen to him.

But he would take that.

"Sam, I mean...I really _didn't_ know what to say. I don't want you to...laugh at me when I tell you how much I...like you," he spit out nervously, and that was when he broke through.

It was almost humorous to see the constant fleeting emotions. There was anger, when she first tried not to let him see what she was _really_ thinking. Then it disappeared, replaced with excitement, then confusion, curiosity, happiness, more anger, and more happiness- and then she just grinned at him, her eyes smug.

"Well why didn't you just say that, Fredloser? You should know by now I'm gonna laugh at you no matter _what_ you say- but affectionately so." she laughed, punching him in the shoulder as he stumbled back and winced a small bit. She held her hand out to him afterwards, and when he went to take it she pulled it out and sneered at him, "Too slow, Joe!" and then she let him slip his arm around her waist as they went straight to Carly's apartment.

When they walked in together, Carly paused, and Freddie closed his eyes in anticipation. He was waiting for her, "Are you crazy? Sam, you hate him!" He was waiting for her gasp, her laughter, and her "Am I being punked?" But it never came...and he _finally_ opened his eyes to see that she seemed to be sharing an inside joke with Sam with her eyes, just grinning at the two of them together.

"I got you more ham," Carly said nervously, as if Sam had been truly angry at her before she left. Sam just grinned and burst out of Freddie's arms, straight to the ham. He rolled his eyes, muttering, "All you ever want to do is eat," which just got him a well aimed slap. Of course, her eyes never left the ham as she devoured it with the other hand, and he was glad he could glare at her without her seeing.

There were only a few slices, so it is needless to say that Sam finished it off in only a few silent minutes. It was like she was tasting something Carly had made that their careers depended on, not their friendship.

When Sam finished, she beamed up at her friend and said, "That's the best ham I've had in a long time," and each of their faces softened up as they shared a brief hug. Of course, Sam ruined it by pulling a crumpled and slightly ripped fifty dollar bill out of her back pocket and exclaiming, "Now let's go spend this bad boy at Groovy Smoothies- we'll be able to spend hours there," she grinned.

Freddie grinned at the way Carly didn't even question why they would want to spend hours there. She just picked up her coat, wallet, and cell phone, and stood by and waited for her friend.

"I thought you were going to have my mom announce I'd won fifty bucks?" he asked curiously, and the way Sam looked at him for a moment surprised him. Her eyes were soft as she smiled gently at him, but then she smirked- as she laced her fingers through his.

"I was only gonna do that after I got back. I knew today was like...balancing on the tip of the iceberg, you could say. It would either go one way or the other," she beamed, and Freddie rolled his eyes at her, but tightened his grip on her hand as Carly beamed at her best friends.

"Allow me to quote Casablanca," Carly cheered, and Sam rolled her eyes, but nodded. "Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Carly said, putting on a thick accent when she said the words, which got them all laughing hysterically as they walked out of the door, and down the stairs, and out towards Groovy Smoothies. Sam and Freddie held hands the whole way, and Sam and Carly spoke easier than they had in the past few weeks.

And it seemed to Freddie like he was holding a little bit of perfect in his laced fingers.

Author's Note: Whoa, it's finished. It seems like I've been writing this story forever! Now I've got to get on a few requests and on I Want You to Know, but don't expect anything for the weekend. I hope you've all enjoyed reading this story, and I've definitely enjoyed reading your really kind reviews. Thanks for sticking with the story, guys! :D


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